The Cranial Contusion Conundrum
by aekohl
Summary: After a freak furniture accident, Sheldon is left with a head injury that brings out an unexpected side of his personality. He showers Penny with all the affection she could ever want, but there's something missing and she knows it. Sheldon/Penny
1. Chapter One

_[Author's Note]_

_This is fairly new territory for me, but I love these two characters more than I can say and I just couldn't resist taking them for a spin. In any case, there will be some medical mistakes and improbabilities but I hope than you all can overlook them in the name of what I hope will be a good time. If there are any mistakes or (unintentional) OOC moments, I'm to blame. All warnings aside, please enjoy and leave a review to let me know if I should keep this one going. - A.E._

**Chapter One**

"Penny!"

Somewhere, in another place in time, a voice shrieks like a vulture. The sudden interruption in her thoughts makes Penny jump like a scared rabbit. She shakes her head out of her day dream and turns to find her manager facing her with a bored expression, with one hand rested pointedly on her wide hip. Penny winces and hopes she hasn't been ignoring a table.

"I'm sorry, what's up?" she asks and her only answer is the cordless phone being shoved into her hands. She takes the gesture for what it is and brings the device to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Penny?" the voice asks and she recognizes it as Howard's. She fights the urge to roll her eyes and clears her throat instead.

"Yeah, Howard, it's me," she replies impatiently, wondering what he could possibly want enough to call her at work, "What's up?"

"There's been an accident," he says and her heart jolts violently in her chest. She can faintly hear commotion in the background, but nothing is clear enough to make out.

"Accident?" she questions, finally forcing her voice to work. It comes out high and squeaky and she had to clear her throat again to get it to sound like something audible to human ears. "What kind of accident?"

"It was the craziest thing, actually," he starts in and she's suddenly terrified of how long this story might go on, "We were moving furniture in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment."

"Oh, my God," she says, honestly shocked, "Sheldon let you move furniture?"

"No, not really," he replies candidly, "He was trying to stop us when one of his action figures fell and knocked him out cold."

"Is he okay?" she asks, starting to reach for her purse to collect her things.

"Well, we couldn't get him to wake up for a few minutes but… well, he's awake," he says and she has the instant idea that he's leaving something very important out of the conversation. "Anyway, Sheldon's ready to be released. Leonard and Raj had to go back to work and now we seem to be without a ride."

She hears someone shout something in the background, but the sound is muffled over the line. The voice is followed by Howard's shouting something along the lines of, "For the love of God, shut up. And stop doing that!"

"Okay… sure thing," she says suspiciously. He must be talking to Sheldon, who's undoubtedly trying to reorganize the emergency room to achieve its maximum efficiency.

Or something like that, anyway.

She nods her head, convinced of her theory, and slings her handbag over her shoulder. "Which hospital did you take him to?"

Howard gives her the address and she hangs up, heading for the door. She spares her ambivalent manager an explanation of "personal emergency," and then she heads out to the car. Despite the still-warm weather, a chill creeps up the back of her neck and on her arms.

_He's fine, _she tells herself as she pulls herself behind the wheel. _Sheldon's just fine._

_---_

Penny arrives at the hospital in minutes, pointed in the right direction by an overworked male nurse who looked like he might burst into tears at any moment. She's heading down the hallway when Howard appears out of nowhere, tapping her on the shoulder and making her start for the second time that night.

"Hey," she says, exhaling loudly and trying to quell the steadily building unease in the back of her mind. "So? Where's the good doctor?"

"He's down the hall just a bit," Howard tells her and shifts his feet, staring intently at them. Normally she'd be all for his staring at his own shoes rather than her boobs, but something told her that this time it foretold of far worse circumstances to come.

"Well?"

"Well… he's down there," he says but grabs her arm when she turns to find his room. "Penny, I feel like I need to warn you before you talk to him."

"Oh, my God. How bad is he?" she questions, feeling herself starting to panic again. She imagined the blood, bandages, and bruises before grimacing and kicking herself for jumping to conclusions. "Is he… deformed or something?"

"No, no. Nothing like that," he assures her with a slightly chagrined expression, "He's just not himself, that's all."

"Nothing could be worse than a sick Sheldon," she informs him carelessly and turns away. "If I can sing 'Soft Kitty' to a grown man, I can handle this."

"Penny, wait!"

The warning was wasted. Her legs were longer than his and they carried her down the remainder of the distance before he could think to stop her again. She found Sheldon's chart on the wall before knocking lightly to see if it was safe for her to come in. The voice that answered sounded perfectly fine, and she silently cursed Howard for worrying her over nothing.

"Come in."

She opens the door and finds Sheldon Sitting on the edge of an examination table, his hands resting on his thighs. His Superman shirt has a little bit of blood on it—she's not examining _that _too closely—and his hair is unusually mussed. Other than the bandage across his forehead and the light shiner over his left eye, he looks perfectly fine. She knew he would be, obviously.

"Hey, sweetie," she says in her most soothing voice. He's eyeing her carefully, and for a moment she wonders if he remembers her. "I'm here to take you home. Are you ready to go?"

His eyes pass over her again and this time something about him seems… off.

"Anywhere with you, gorgeous," he says, pushing himself off the table. His voice was darker, and had lost its pleasing musical quality. Now it sounded harsh, and forced. She wants to say something, almost does, but she realizes that he's moving ever closer and fixing her with a look she didn't think she'd ever see on Dr. Sheldon Cooper. His eyes had shadows of darker blue in them now, and he was looking at her like she was the only woman left on earth. She shrank under the weight of his stare, and swallowed hard.

Something was seriously, seriously wrong.

_[A/N]- I'm planning on this being a fun little piece where Sheldon obviously isn't himself. The "him" I'm bringing to life is the complete opposite of the Sheldon we all know and love, and he sets his calculating eyes on Penny. The question is, who does Penny want more?_


	2. Chapter Two

_[Author's Note]_

_Thank you for all the kind attention to this little tale. I hope it continues to entertain._

**Chapter Two**

"Sheldon," Penny says carefully, her eyes widening, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he answers casually, still studying her with an indescribable expression that makes her face flush with heat. "Why do you ask?"

"You're acting weird," she tells him skeptically, watching his amused grin stretch the corners of his mouth until the expression reminds her of a cat. A feral one. "Scratch that. Really, _really _weird."

"Funny. I don't feel weird at all," he replies ominously and she immediately turns back to retreat into the hall. She doesn't see anyone in sight, but she knows the little cretin must be somewhere nearby.

"Howard!" she screams at the empty hallway, "Get your ass down here! _Now!_"

She's answered by a few dozen nurses shushing her impatiently. She rolls her eyes and tries again.

"_**Howard!**_"

"Coming, Penny!" he finally calls, his voice raising an uncomfortable octave from wherever he's hiding. "I just had to step aside for a minute to… you know what? Never mind."

"Just get down here," she sighs and turns around to realize that Sheldon had crept up behind her and was now perilously close. "Oh!"

"Why are you screaming at Wolowitz?" he asks, fixing his eyes intently on her face. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, I most definitely think so," she says emphatically before looking up at him with a sickly sweet smile. "You know what, sweetie? Let's get you back to bed. You hit your head and you're feeling a little off right now."

She places her hands on his chest with the intention of pushing him back into the small examination room, but at the first touch she felt him shiver and suddenly she's stuck. Her traitorous hands aren't going anywhere. Looking up, she finds that same damn expression glued to his unnaturally calm face. She was used to annoying Sheldon, know-it-all Sheldon, and neurotic super villain Sheldon. This… this calm, even-toned man with bedroom eyes was definitely _not _Sheldon.

"You're concerned," he observes, moving his hands to rest over hers. "Maybe you should come back in and sit down."

He moves effortlessly, his motions elegant and confident. Taking her hand, he leads her into the exam room and closes the door behind them. She follows obediently, too stunned to object. Instead of showing her to the small chair sitting against the wall, he hands her up to rest on the edge of the examination table. She takes a seat, watching him in astonishment as he pulled up the chair she'd intended for herself and took a seat next to her. He kept her hand in his.

"Oh, my God," she marvels, staring down at the union. This is the most they've touched in a long time, since he hugged her over Leonard Nimoy's DNA.

"What is it?" he asks, his voice a low rumble in his chest that washes over her in waves. He rubs circles on her hand with his thumb and her vision blurs. She feels her heart rate speed up, and breathing is getting significantly harder. If she didn't know any better, she was about to hyperventilate. Sheldon must have noticed the change, because he pulls his chair closer and his brows furrow in concentration.

"Penny, you need to calm down," he instructs carefully. "Can I get you something?"

Before she can answer—or scream for help, she hasn't made up her mind—the door swings open. Instead of seeing Howard, a small man in a white lab coat entered the room without ever looking up. His eyes are glued to the chart, and when he looks up all he sees is a hysterical twenty-something and the man trying to keep her quiet. He notices the bandage on the man's face, but the woman's apparent difficulty breathing suddenly seems like the bigger issue.

A small brown paper bag is being forced into her hands before she knows what to do about it. Penny takes the item and jerkily yanks it open, shoving the opening into her fist and then to her mouth. She takes a long shuttering breath that does nothing to clear her head. The two men in the room instruct her to keep breathing, to take it slow, and she starts to calm down before she looks down and sees Sheldon's hand resting possessively on her thigh. She squeals and jerks away.

"Fix him!" she cries, pointing accusingly at Sheldon. The doctor looks at him temporarily, before turning his attention to the woman in hysterics.

"If you don't calm down, you're going to pass out," he warns her. "Now what's the problem? Were you two in some kind of accident?"

"I wasn't! He was!" she replies before taking another long pull of air from the paper bag. "His name is Sheldon, and he's not him anymore, and I want you to fix him. Right now."

"What's going on?" he asks, turning to Sheldon.

"My name is the one on your chart. I was injured earlier this afternoon, but now I feel fine." He motions to the bandage on his forehead. "Just a bump."

"Just a _bump_?!" Penny cries incredulously. "This is like 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' all over again!" When she sees the doctor eye the emergency call button on the side of the bed, she takes a deep breath and narrows her eyes at him. "I don't know how hard he hit his head, but it must have been hard enough to turn him into… _that._"

He takes another look at Sheldon, and then faces her again.

"I don't see the problem. He seems fine to me," he observes before turning back to her with a polite smile on his face. "There's really no reason to panic. Your boyfriend's going to be fine."

"He's not my boyfriend!" she shrieks, "He's my neighbor! And he's not acting at all like himself, and it's really freaking me out right now."

"You say there's been personality changes?" he asks, his expression subtly changing with his new piece of the crazy puzzle.

"Oh, there have most definitely been personality changes."

"Penny, you're overreacting," Sheldon interjects, causing her to whip her head around and glare at him. "I've told you I'm fine."

"What kind of personality changes?" he asks, eyeing Sheldon and bringing a penlight out of his pocket. Sheldon is still watching her, concentration furrowing his brow. He seems utterly lost in the middle of the debate over his sanity, but instead of arguing he stays silent. Very unlike himself, Penny notes.

"Sheldon's not like this," she explains, "He's not normal, like you and me."

"What is he like usually?"

"Think of a cross between 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'Revenge of the Nerds,'" she says bluntly and the man's eyes widen.

"Point taken," he says and grabs Sheldon's chart again. Penny lets out a sigh of relief. They're going to give him some weird pill and an ice pack, and then Sheldon is going to go back to being himself. Unfortunately, her thoughts are interrupted by the doctor's musings.

"Uh-oh," he mutters and she can feel the beginnings of a migraine building at the back of her head.

"What is it?" she asks, once again shrinking away from Sheldon's grasping hand at her knee. She glares at him, but he doesn't seem to care either way.

"There seems to be some brain trauma the technician missed on the MRI," he explains, his eyes still on the chart. "It looks like he's got a little bruising in his frontal lobe. It's minimal, but it's there."

"Frontal lobe?" she asks, scanning her memories from high school biology and coming up empty. "What does that mean?"

"The frontal lobe is where we store our personalities and behaviors," he tells her somberly, and her stomach drops. "Impulse control and things like that. That's probably what's causing the symptoms you noticed."

"Well, when is it going to go away?" she asked desperately. "It's going to go away, right?"

"The swelling will," he insists confidently, "As for the personality changes, there's no telling. Sometimes it's a matter of hours and sometimes it's longer."

"Longer?" she asks, frantic, "Like how much longer are we talking about? Longer like a few days? A week?"

"Months," he replies weakly, "Sometimes years."

"Years?" she squeaks, gripping the edges of the exam table hard enough for her knuckles to turn white. The room starts spinning and before the doctor can tell her that the cases he mentioned were extremely rare, the world blurs around the edges and goes completely to black.

_[A/N]- I didn't expect to have the next chapter up so soon, but the reviews had me writing incessantly. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know either way. =) -A.E._


	3. Chapter Three

_[Author's Note]_

_I hope you're all still enjoying this story. Special thanks to Panda Hallows, who so kindly let me steal one of her (apparently many) euphemisms. _

**Chapter Three**

Penny drives in utter silence, doing her best to keep the stranger next to her as far from her mind as possible.

Obviously it doesn't work.

She'd been able to convince the doctor before leaving the hospital that she was fine to drive, but now she's been faced with the idea that she actually has to _live _with the consequences of Sheldon's accident. She has to see him in the hallways, and when she visits the rest of the guys for Thai food nights and Halo night. What was she going to do? Was this going to be forever? She was terrified of the possibility that the Sheldon that she knew and… well, tolerated…may never come back. A little over a year ago, she would have been ambivalent at best. Now, the idea makes her a sadder than she would have ever expected it to.

All of this is flowing through her mind at warp speed, making her grip the steering wheel way harder than she should. She isn't the best driver anyway, but right now she's driving like someone right out of NASCAR. Her foot is pressed to the floor and no light is red enough to stop her. Despite her best efforts, Sheldon makes no remarks whatsoever about her reckless antics. In fact, the car is ungodly quiet. Aside from shooting Howard glares every now and then from the driver's seat, everything has been smooth. No one dares to speak quite yet, and for once she didn't mind reveling in the silence. It gave her time to wonder just what the hell she was going to do about Sheldon, who remains seemingly oblivious to her inner turmoil.

Not that he was any good at recognizing it in the first place.

Now he's less than a foot away from her, staring out the window and humming along to the radio. She does a double take, not so subtly. Sheldon Cooper is _humming_. Penny continues to examine him from the corner of her eye. She realizes with a jolt that he isn't wearing a seatbelt. Sheldon _always _wears his seatbelt.

"You're staring," he observes suddenly before turning to face her with disarmingly blue eyes and a slight grin. "See anything you like?"

Penny's jaw drops and she almost chokes on the shock. Flushing more than she anticipated, she tears her eyes away from Sheldon to keep a better eye on the road in front of her. She doesn't trust herself to respond, so she doesn't.

"Dude," Howard pipes up from the backseat, "You're starting to sound like me."

Sheldon takes a fleeting moment to spare Howard a look over his shoulder and scoffs.

"God, I hope not."

Howard sputters indignantly in his own defense and Penny laughs despite herself. _Hey, _she mentally defends. _It was funny. _This earns her another surreptitious glance from the man next to her that makes her chest constrict way more than it normally should in his presence. She averts her eyes again and wonders to herself just how long it's going to take for him to snap out of whatever freaky twilight zone he's fallen into.

What normally would have seemed like a short drive felt like hours by the time she parked the car and climbed out of the driver's seat, staring at the sidewalk rather than at Sheldon. Howard was rattling on about something—she wasn't really paying attention—and it felt like white noise. For the first time since she met him, his rambling didn't really bother her. It provided a backdrop for what was already proving to be a fanatically weird day.

"Do you know where we are, Sheldon?" Howard asks in his best patronizing tone. If Penny didn't know better, she would say he was doing it on purpose. "Do you remember this building?"

Sheldon answers him with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course I do," he answers impatiently, "My memory is in no way impaired." He stops in the middle of the lobby, staring down at Howard. "As a matter of fact, I don't see why you're still here. Penny is more than capable of caring for me on her own."

"Caring for you?" Penny squeaks. She hadn't thought of that.

"I assumed you would be," he tells her carefully, "Leonard and Raj are at work, and I don't really care for Howard's presence right now. That leaves you."

"Right," she says uncertainly and offers Sheldon a weak smile. "Are you sure you don't want Howard to stick around? You're not supposed to sleep for a while, and you guys could play Halo or something. Or Klingon Boggle! I know how much you guys like that."

"Not tonight," Sheldon replies and gives Howard an appraising glance. "Howard, thank you for your attention today. I appreciate it. I'll see you later."

"Uh, okay," he says as though Sheldon had been addressing him in a language completely foreign to him, "Are you sure, man? I could stick around and, you know, keep you company. Or something."

_Yeah, Howard, _Penny thinks. _Real genuine. _

"Trust me," he replies, throwing Penny another glance, "I'm sure."

Those were the magic words, Penny notices as she watches Howard fly out of the lobby like a bat out of hell. The little wimp didn't even look back. Penny grimaces at her bad luck, shaking her head. Once again, she's left to take care of Sheldon while the rest of the gang turned tail and fled for their lives. Maybe she was the loser in this arrangement, but as least she got points for compassion.

"Come on, sweetie," she instructs, lightly patting his arm, "Let's get you upstairs."

----

Leonard and Raj climb the stairs two at a time, clamoring to get to the apartment as fast as humanly (and superhumanly) as possible. Wolowitz had texted them two hours ago, after Sheldon had banished him from the building in favor of Penny, and they just _had _to see this. Judging from the occasional squeals coming from the apartment, the show was going to be even better expected. They had fifty bucks riding on who shed the first blood.

"Dude, do you have your video camera?" Raj asks as they reach for the door to the apartment.

"Oh, crap!" Leonard exclaims, smacking his forehead with an open palm. "I knew I was forgetting something. Oh, well. Both our phones have video."

"Good point," Raj offers and pulls out his phone. "Set video to 'record.'"

"Done."

"Alright," he says, taking a long breath, "Let's do this."

"If anything happens," Leonard starts, stopping Raj with a hand across his chest, "I want you to escape. Save yourself."

Raj just stares.

"Duh, dude."

Leonard glares.

"Whatever," he replies, "Go on my count of three." He places his hand on the knob, taking note of the subtle sound of voices on the other side of the door. "One… two… three!"

They burst in the door in a flurry of movement and they're greeted with a high-pitched squeal. They write it off as one of Sheldon's neurotic tirades until they notice that Sheldon is completely and totally calm.

And sitting on the counter.

Both Raj and Leonard forget about their phones as they watch the scene ahead of them. Sheldon is watching, obviously amused, while Penny is crumbling various foods all over his spot on the couch. They watch, horrified, waiting for Sheldon to go nuclear and take out the entire state. Much to their surprise, he just sits and watches her as though she's doing some type of interpretive dance rather than destroying his spot.

"Dear God," Leonard whispers, stunned.

"Ditto," Raj adds under his breath.

"Sheldon, I swear to God," Penny threatens, oblivious to their new audience, "If you don't snap out of it right this second, I'm going to lose my mind."

"I'm not entirely sure you haven't lost it already," he fires back. "I have no idea why you would think a worthless couch cushion would mean something to be. But by all means, continue what you're doing if it matters that much to you."

Leonard's jaw drops, Penny shrieks, and Raj stares before saying the only thing that came to his mind under the circumstances despite the fact that Penny was still in the room.

"Holy cheese fries."

Raj's simple statement finally garners the attention of the combatants and they both turn to face the two newcomers. Sheldon is seemingly happy, a smile on his face. On the opposite side of the room, Penny is red in the face and breathing heavily.

"Oh, you're back," Sheldon observes from his perch. "How was work?"

Leonard is about to reply when Penny interrupts, "Oh, thank God. You're here."

"What's going on?" Leonard asks, watching her brush her hands off on her thighs. "What have you guys been doing? Besides, you know, destroying my living room."

"Sheldon's hurt worse than we thought," she tells him, "The swelling will heal and everything, but we're now experiencing some technical difficulties."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Sheldon has lost his marbles, what few he had to begin with," she says. "But now my shift on the psych ward is done, and yours is just beginning." She grins, holding up her right hand and grouping two fingers on each side. "Live long and prosper."

"Penny, wait!" Sheldon suddenly cries. She tops and turns back around. "Where are you going?"

"Home, sweetie," she says and Leonard doesn't miss the irritation in her voice. "Leonard and Raj are here now, and they'll keep you company."

"And what if I prefer your company to theirs?" he asks, jumping off the counter to head her off on her way out the door. "You don't really blame me, do you?"

"Um…" she starts, "Well, I'll check in on you later." When he still doesn't seem to accept that as a viable alternative she adds, "I promise."

"I guess I'll have to make do until you get back, then," he says and she offers him a weak smile. Before she can leave the apartment—and all its craziness—behind, he leans forward and places a kiss to her cheek. Suddenly paralyzed, she stands still and holds her breath at the feeling of his lips on her skin. The contact is gentle, but brief. When it's over, he steps back and she stares at him, her mouth open and unmoving.

"Have a good night, Penny," he says and she nods, unable to form any kind of coherent communication otherwise. "I'll see you later."

She walks like a zombie out of the apartment and shuts the door behind her, not speaking another word to any of the three men in the room. Sheldon stares after her for a second before turning to face Leonard and Raj, frowning at their slack-jawed expressions. He crosses his arms over his chest and eyes them critically.

"What's gotten into you two?" he asks.

"Dude," Raj starts unsurely, "You just put the moves on Penny."

"Yeah!" Leonard suddenly pipes up, "What's the deal?"

"I would hardly call an expression of gratitude and affection 'putting the moves' on someone," Sheldon replies, walking past them and into the kitchen to examine the contents of the refrigerator.

"Um, that's exactly what the rest of the world calls it," Leonard insists, steadfastly remaining in his position in the middle of the living room. "What makes you so special?"

"Do you really need the list, Leonard?" he asks, pulling a carton of milk from the refrigerator and pulling off the top. Much to the horror of his friends, he brings the carton directly to his mouth and drinks from it. When he's done, he replaces the cap and returns it to the shelf… label pointing backwards.

"What the hell is going on?" Raj cries suddenly. "Who are you?"

"Sheldon Cooper," he replies stoically, leaving out the letters after his name to the shock and awe of the other men. "Who were you expecting?"

Leonard spares a look at Raj, who shrugs noncommittally. They turn toward the door at the same time with one word on their lips.

_"Penny!"_


End file.
